Thursday, December 27, 2007

So On To Christmas

Well it arrived out of nowhere and disappeared just as quickly!

Having not been anywhere near ready for it, suddenly the big day was upon us and then it was finished almost before I had a chance to enjoy it. I had a somewhat different Christmas day than expected as Mrs H3 was taken ill on Christmas Eve (get well soon hun) and was therefore unable to come and stay (sending love to Tammie too who was also poorly in hospital over Christmas having had a burst appendix on Christmas Eve). Instead I spent the afternoon and evening at the pub. I didn’t get round to opening my presents until almost 11pm, but received lots of lovely chocolate related things from Andrew, Aiden and Lesley and lots of nice little bits from Lynne.

Yesterday I went to visit Leanne (and her boyfriend Stephen), Jane and Julie at Barbara’s where I got some CDs (I Am Kloot, David Mead and Passenger) and more chocolate (how on earth I’m going to eat it all before the beginning of January so I can restart my diet gawd knows!). We attempted to play the Lord of the Rings Interactive game, but even though all of us are huge fans of the books and the films it was almost impossible. So giving up we instead played our usual round of Uno.

So Christmas is over and all that’s left is the chocolate. I really ought to make the effort to go to see Enchanted sometime before I go back to work and Andrew and I are supposed to be going to see I am Legend at some point too.

So now we’re waiting for New Year, although I don’t expect that to be any more interesting than Christmas was, and then of course depressingly it’ll be time to go back to work.

Playing Catch Up As Usual

Well it’s been and gone (Christmas that is) and once again it’s been over a week since I last posted. So here it is finally, my review of the fantastic I Am Kloot concert that Mrs H3 and I went to on the 18th December (seems like a lifetime ago already).

I have to admit that it got off to a slightly inauspicious start when we got lost trying to find Brick Lane (somewhere we’ve never been any good at finding) and then when we finally got to 93 Feet East realised that the place was completely empty (tickets said the concert started at 7.30pm, doors open at 5pm – we got there at 7pm). Undeterred I remained convinced that things would get going shortly (Mrs H3 less so obviously) and so we went to get a curry from a lovely place called Cinnamon.

We arrived back just before 8pm to find that I Am Kloot were actually due to go onstage at 9pm and there were now at least 10 other people there (yep, I know not the greatest number ever but I remained optimistic). After I bought a limited edition copy of their new album the completely wonderful ‘I Am Kloot Play Moolah Rouge’ we got ourselves a drink and found a seat at the edge of the room and people watched as the room began to fill.

9pm came and went and still there was no sign of the band, but there was quite a mixed crowd growing. When they finally made it to the stage just after 9.30pm there was actually a rather good crowd.

Once again Mrs H3 managed to attract a rather interesting and incredibly rude new friend who kept her entertained for the whole concert (poor girl) whilst I concentrated on the music and John Bramwell.


The set was a stellar one covering all their albums and was a good mixture of their new songs and older favourites from all three previous albums. John’s voice held up well, it was a real relief to see him recovered from the severe throat infection that made them have to cancel previous dates and their European tour. Lovely acoustic numbers like From Your Favourite Sky and the fabulous Ferris Wheels sat happily alongside punchier tracks such as One Man Brawl. Eventually I just had to and stand at the front and get closer to this brilliant band, leaving Mrs H3 with her new friend. It was a real pleasure to hear songs like the emotionally brilliant Dark Star and they finished their set with the always awesome To You.

I had a fantastic evening and I think that Mrs H3 enjoyed the show too, although obviously it would have been improved without the annoying company. I just hope they tour again soon.

Monday, December 17, 2007

What? Not Another Post!

Oh my God Christmas is almost here and I’m so unprepared!

Two more days at work and I’ve written no cards (sorry everyone – Merry Christmas by the way!) and sorted very few presents, not even sent the Sinners CD yet (sorry girls – I will do it a.s.a.p. promise). I can’t even think of anything that I want for Christmas myself apart from a Nintendo DS with Brain Training (but I think that’s only ‘cos I’ve seen so many ruddy adverts for it) or a copy of ‘Beadle the Bard’, but of course I don’t know anyone with a couple of million quid to spare to buy that for me. But then I’m not feeling at all Christmassy even after putting up the tree, decorating my workspace, opening my chocolate advent calendar and finding dodgy Christmas e-mail backgrounds, which seems a bit weird when this time next week it will be Christmas Eve and almost all over. Perhaps it would help if I knew when I was working over Christmas to help me plan what to do during my free time (seeing Enchanted is on my list at some point), although I’m not sure it’ll make any difference – I just have to face the fact my interest in Christmas has been completely overshadowed by my need to see Sweeney Todd.

My poor beloved Kiefer will be spending both his birthday on Friday and Christmas in jail (whilst I agree he deserves his sentence, I’m not sure why he has to do the full stretch just because he’s a bloke and silly tarts like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan get off with doing hours – they should all have done full sentences), although according to the media hundreds of people have written to him so at least he’ll have something to do while he’s there, but the poor darling hasn’t yet had any visitors. Apparently he’s being a model prisoner, folding laundry and working in the kitchens so well done to him. I expect the rest will do him the world of good, but I think he should come and stay with me when he gets out so I can keep him out of trouble!

Tomorrow is the eagerly awaited (by me anyway) I Am Kloot concert at 93 Feet East (just over 24 hours and counting). I really can’t wait to see them and am very excited at the prospect, which was helped by our visit to the Tap ‘n’ Tin on Saturday. It was great to see a concert in a small venue again, something I haven’t done for such a long time and it’s really got me stoked up. I’ve fallen completely in love with John Bramwell and his magnificent lyrics (is he the best (love) song writer ever?) and am hoping that Mrs H3 will enjoy them more once she’s seen them live. She really is completely brilliant for pitching up to something that she really doesn’t want to see (but I do desperately) and then enjoying herself. I am eternally grateful to her (thank you so much Lisa - you really are a hunny) and absolutely dreading when someone like Black Lace (are they still going?) decide to tour because I know I’ll have to repay the favour, and I’m not sure I can do it as gracefully as she does.

Already we’ve planned a pantomime for the New Year. Every year we say we’re going to go then we don’t get round to it but this time we’ve finally booked one. So we’re seeing Peter Pan (one of my favourites) at Bromley, starring none other than good ole’ Starsky (of Starsky & Hutch fame) himself Paul Michael Glaser. I’m expecting great things from him ‘cos I’m sure he can camp it up with the best of them, although he’ll have to work hard to beat Jason Isaacs (Peter Pan) or Alan Rickman (An Awfully Big Adventure). Whatever, I’m expecting an evening of fun and I know that we’ll have a good time however bad or good it is!

Sorry it's more Sweeney Todd ...

So the opening credits for Sweeney Todd are now online



and a new trailer – argggghhhhhhhh! I want to see this film NOW!!!!!



And what can say about this clip but woohoo - gotta love Alan Rickman (well I do, but then we all know that don't we?)

Carry On .. Up the Tap 'n' Tin!

Well I’m pleased to say that my faith in Pete Doherty was well placed. To all the scoffers who said that he wouldn’t turn up – you were wrong! I know he missed a gig earlier in the week, but after all he was going to be at the Tap ‘n’ Tin with the legendary Chas & Dave … how could he not be there?

I thought Pete was fantastic value for money and in my opinion he played a blinding set, gave great entertainment value during Chas & Dave’s set (watching him trying to stay upright was almost worth the cover price on its own) and then to cap it all joined the guys for the last song.

When we arrived Pete had just gone onstage – perfect timing as it meant that we didn’t have to hang around for too long with the Pete look-alikes that crowded the room, although Mrs H3 got some very interesting attention from a couple of Chas & Dave fans *LOL*. There was a lot of waving of Union Jacks as he sang his way through classic Libertines and Babyshambles tracks. Damn that boy is beautiful, and such a gorgeous voice (and I think even Mrs H3 would agree with me). Amazingly he looked completely clean, even vaguely healthy looking and was very focussed and definitely on form. Check out these videos of him in action.





However, in the brief interval which can have been no more than about 10 minutes between him leaving the stage and Chas & Dave coming on he’d obviously taken something. He spent the whole set leaning against the wall trying to stay upright, beer bottle in hand, his eyes rolling and his skin having taken on that waxy pallor that you see in all the tabloid photos. To give him his due he was obviously very much enjoying the show, quite clearly singing along to every track, although he turned down the chance to sing with the band early into the set as I think he wouldn’t have made it to the stage. However, he’d recovered enough for the final number and they finished the evening with Pete singing a barnstorming version of “Ain’t No Pleasing You”.



I was also impressed that although he was completely out of it he took the time to talk to any fans who wanted to chat to him and spent most of the night signing autographs even though this was distracting him from watching Chas & Dave who performed a spirited and popular set.

All in all the evening was amazing and I’m very glad I attended, especially knowing how many jealous friends I now have!

Yep, we were there and we’ve even got the button badges to prove it!

Friday, December 14, 2007

Here We Go ...

Sometimes it's great to have friends on the same wavelength!

Mrs H3 saw my post about the Chas & Dave concert and like me considered that it could be a completely awesome evening - so we've got tickets. It turns out that Chas & Dave were apparently a HUGE influence on the young Pete Doherty and he and the Libertines were forever covering their songs during their early days. Whatever happens the evening is going to be a huge laugh. Will of course report back later!

It's Only Me

Just doing another catch up as it's been a week again already - how the time does fly as one gets older!

Unfortunately I haven't got round to making any more Christmas cards, nor have I actually written any yet. I have sorted out the Sinners Christmas CD but need to find time to get them in the post in time for Christmas, bear with me girls it will be on the way soon (I hope).

Entertainment Weekly’s review of Sweeney Todd has been released and its reviewer, like it appears most other reviewers loves the film. Obviously I was particularly taken with this part of the review:

“It's nice, though, how Bonham Carter's corpse-bride complexion complements Depp's; how Rickman's sadistic Judge Turpin oozes real erotic heat, not just twisted sexual tastes; and how honorably a big studio has, er, stuck its neck out to do right by one of the great American artistic creations of our time.”

Yep, that’s me getting all excited again – especially with Alan Rickman oozing erotic heat (although when doesn’t he?)

I’m still gutted that I’ve got to wait another whole month for it, unless someone nice wants to give me the money to fly to the US to see it (please!) I’m even wishing Christmas away so I can see this film and that NEVER happens! I'm still desperate to see it even though its release coincides with me getting another year older!

I’m also now on countdown to seeing I am Kloot. Only another 4 days till I get to see this fantastic band live. The more I listen to them the more I think they are geniuses. I know Mrs H3 finds their work depressing, but of course that’s my favourite sort of music (depressing love songs a speciality) and I find them strangely uplifting (always a contrary bird I know). I’ve managed to listen to some of their new album too and am really looking forward to buying it at the concert and adding it to my I-Pod for non-stop play over Christmas (well actually slotted in between The Hoff's 'The Night Before Christmas', Alan Titchmarsh's 'Fill My Stocking', this years sinners choice (to be revealed later once the CD has been sent) and Chas & Dave's 'Christmas Knees Up' which Mrs H3 has very kindly procured for me).

Talking of concerts and Chas & Dave, the cockney duo (and their drummer) are playing at the Tap ‘n’ Tin in Chatham tomorrow night (although according to the website they’re not due on stage till 1am!) Now I knew about this quite some time ago as Steve and Terry are going, but at £25 a ticket I felt it a little extravagant, just before Christmas (the I am Kloot tickets were £13.50 in case you were wondering) especially considering my love/hate relationship with the duo. However, yesterday I discovered who their special guest was and now I’m sort of gutted not to be going – imagine, it’s none other than Pete Docherty. Yes, him of the huge amount of drug taking, but also of those fabulousty bands The Libertines and Babyshambles. A bit of a strange guest for them I thought, especially to be playing a venue like the Tap ‘n’ Tin (and of course there’s the ever present possibility that he won't show up), but I understand from one of the commuters on the coach this morning (obviously a bit of a Pete fan himself) that he has played there before back when he started, so he’s revisiting his roots and the fan sites seem convinced he’ll be there. Could be a seminal moment or a complete blow out – is it worth £25 to find out?

Friday, December 07, 2007

So I'm back from our day out at Bluewater. Have had a fantastic day with lots of lovely (and very naughty) food, lots of shopping done and a fantastic film watched.

'The Golden Compass' was everything I was hoping it would be. It stuck more closely to the book than films like Harry Potter etc., there were no major changes only a few omissions really which was great and all the characters were excellent as was the CGI. I have to admit to being surprised by the ending, but that was only because the story stuck so close to the book all the way through so I'd expected the same ending. I loved the film and really hope that they make the second (and eventually third) parts. Definitely one to add to my collection when it comes out on dvd, and Lynne and I both agreed we'd be more than happy to go and see the film again.

The rest of the day was taken up with shopping and eating. We walked round Bluewater about 4 or 5 times stopping for the odd cup of tea, ice cream, cake and sandwiches and finally ended up in De:Alto for dinner.

A great day but now I'm shattered!

I see that Alan Rickman has been placed at number 83 in Empire magazine's 100 sexiest movie stars list. Nice to see him in there. They say "All the girls love a bad boy and no one does bad better than Alan Rickman. It’s the voice that does it, that and a commanding screen presence. Such is his ability to give good evil that he even makes the oily Professor Severus Snape somehow attractive". How very true! No sign of Kiefer alas, but I guess he's more a TV star these days. Interestingly top male was Daniel Craig at No. 3, while the top two places were taken by Natalie Portman (2) and Angelina Jolie (1).

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Christmas Is Definitely Coming!

Yep it's official! The Christmas tree is up, the advent calendar is being devoured, the Cranberry Chutney candle has made an appearance, the 2008 Lord of the Rings calendar is on its way from Amazon and I've finally managed to get my arse in gear and make some Christmas cards. Admittedly not many - 18 to be precise (at least that's the Sinners sorted), but it's a start. Hopefully more to follow in a few days if I can decide what to do.

Now is the time for the buying of presents and fortunately for me this year Jo's got her act together and got it all sorted. Thanks Jo! I do still have some shopping to do, but nowhere near as much as usual and I think Royal Mail will be rather pleased about that - they can probably lay off a couple of people with this year's purchases compared to the amount I usually have delivered at this time of year *LOL*

Tomorrow Lynne and I are going to Bluewater for our annual Christmas shopping/cinema/meal day. I was hoping Mrs H3 would be coming along too, but it looks like she might have to work, poor thing. So this year's film is 'The Golden Compass' which I've been waiting to see for ages (next year's will be 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' - nothing like planning ahead eh?) Hopefully should be an excellent although tiring day as usual.

However Mrs H3 and I do have tickets to see I am Kloot on 18th December at 93 Feet East and I'm really excited. The more I hear them, the more I love their work - just my sort of thing, depression and love songs - perfect! Check out this fab video for one of their singles which stars the lovely Christopher Ecclestone. How this lot aren't massive I've no idea - their song writing is sublime.



Also have to show the video for my favourite track by them "From Your Favourite Sky". This is without a doubt one of the best love songs EVER written in my opinion. A truly wonderful track that I can listen to again and again.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Oh Go On Then ....

A bit more Sweeney Todd! No I'm not obsessed ... well there's nothing Harry Potterish happening at the moment so I have to look forward to something *LOL*



Sweeney Todd Behind the Scenes 1


Sweeney Todd Behind the Scenes 2


Sweeney Todd Behind the Scenes 3


Sweeney Todd Behind the Scenes 4 - I just love Tim Burton singing along on this one!



Sweeney Todd Behind the Scenes 5

Did I mention I'm Desperate to see Sweeney Todd?

So here are the official clips that were released at London press day. Am I excited? You betcha! Particular excitement over clip 3 (of course). How can I cope with having to wait another 2 months before seeing it?

Sweeney todd clip 1


Sweeney todd clip 2


Sweeney todd clip 3


Sweeney todd clip 4


Sweeney todd clip 5


Sweeney todd clip 6


Sweeney Todd Clip 7


Sweeney Todd Clip 8


Sweeney Todd Clip 9

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

And More Sweeney Todd too!

OK so you might just have gathered that I am rather keenly waiting to see Sweeney Todd. A couple of days ago the official London press release took place and a whole rash of new footage came out, including interviews with the cast including the delicious Mr Rickman.

If I hadn’t been desperate to see it before I certainly am now. Lucky America gets the film on Christmas Day but we have to wait a whole month longer. At least I’ve got something mega to look forward to on my birthday for a change.

Here's a behind the scenes featurette, I'll be posting the other new clips as they become available - the 'gandered at my ward' scene with Alan is particularly delicious and one I want to add to my collection.



The same report also said that Nobel Son and Bottle Shock were due for release in January too. I am assuming this is in America as I’ve still heard no news on a UK release date for either, but hopefully that means they could be scheduled for a spring release over here. Fingers crossed.

More Music

Mrs H3 and I have a long history of trying to outdo each other on finding the worst album of all time (usually cover version related as I love cover versions). A couple of weeks ago she gave me a few contenders that I have to admit almost beat anything I've ever come up with (although I still contend that I found the worst album ever ... but more of that in a few weeks - yep it is Christmas related).

One of the albums is 'More, More and More' by Girls Aloud, a band that I've generally managed to ignore until this point. Although their own songs were okay in a generally bland sort of way, being the sort of pop I'm not awfully keen on, their cover versions are absolutely cracking. I was particularly impressed by a live version of 'Teenage Dirtbag' and their musicals medley.

Of course it may be that they actually sound really dire but I had just listened to a double album of various artists doing 'Crazy Covers' and anything bad by Girls Aloud paled into insignificance next to this.

I have to admit that there were a few excellent tracks on that too, such as the Sugababes doing 'I bet you look good on the Dancefloor' and Ian Brown doing 'Thriller' and a strange cover version of 'Young Folks' which I thought really rocked, but generally this album was ODD!

Turkish versions of 'Rock the Casbah' and other songs sung in German or Dutch and some of the strangest cover versions ever heard. I did rather like the Dynamo's Rhythm Aces swing version of The Smith's 'Panic' during which members of the band have a conversation about why they are panicking, musing that if there was a nuclear explosion and everyone got wiped out there'd be no-one left to play George Michael records. Very funny when you hear it and suits my sense of humour perfectly!

Finally there was Paul Anka with his 'Classic songs: My Way' which I have to admit I couldn't face listening to after 4 cds worth of the other stuff. When I listened to it a few days later I found it generally pleasant in much the same way as 'Rock Swings' was. I understand that both the Girls Aloud and Paul Anka were chosen primarily for the Duran Duran cover versions 'Girls on Film' and 'Ordinary World' respectively, and actually both tracks aren't bad.

Talking of Duran Duran (and no not under worst album category ... although it almost could have been) their new album ‘Red Carpet Massacre’ is surprisingly excellent. I was less than enthusiastic when I heard the first single 'Falling Down' with Justin Timberlake and a few more listenings didn't really improve my opinion. The idea of Timbaland mixing it up didn't appeal either and I was truly expecting to hate the album with a vengeance, with the exception of ‘Box Full o’ Honey’ which I adored from the moment I heard it. However, by the time I’d listened to the whole album I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I’d feared and after the third listen in a row, I found myself happily singing along to ‘Falling Down’ as if it were a favourite song. Many people have said that ‘Red Carpet Massacre’ is like their first self-titled album but I would liken it more to 1993’s second self-titled album more commonly known as the ‘Wedding Album’. Justin Timberlake has said that his favourite song of all time is ‘Ordinary World’ and many of the songs on this album have that flavour about them. I’m still not happy about the way Duran Duran treat their fans but have to admit that they can still churn out a good song – and yes, I’ll go to see them when they tour a place where tickets aren’t £100 each!

As a last thought on cover versions a couple of mornings ago I heard Leona Lewis doing Snow Patrol’s ‘Run’. It was astonishingly beautiful! I was stunned to find that she actually can sing which is something that her current awful single sadly doesn't show too well.

The Long Awaited MCR Review!

Well I’m thinking of changing the title of this blog to Tracy’s music and film reviews as I don’t seem to talk about much else these days. And yep today is no different.

Actually I’m a bit late posting this but what the hell - it's my blog and being rebellious that means I can do what I want with it when I want (yes, that includes not yet completeing the New Orleans blog, sorry)

On 15th November Mrs H3 and I went to see My Chemical Romance at the O2 Dome in London. It was, as I expected a fantastic evening and the guys were on excellent form. As they’ve now been touring for over a year the set has obviously changed a bit since I last saw them so instead of playing Black Parade first and ending with older tracks this time they interspersed the two. And they certainly packed them in. Opening with Stay they powered through the usual suspects – This Is How I Disappear, Dead!, The Sharpest Lives, I’m Not Okay, I Don’t Love You, House of Wolves, Mama , Cemetery Drive, You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison, Helena, Sleep, Teenagers, Welcome to the Black Parade, Cancer, plus more rarely heard songs like Headfirst for Halos and Honey, This Mirror Isn’t Big Enough For The Two Of Us, finally ending the encore quite appropriately with Famous Last Words. Highlight for many was their rendition of Desert Song, something that they’ve apparently only ever played live once before. For me it was good to hear the older tracks being played live, but I wasn’t sure whether it was a good introduction for Mrs H3.

She had gamely gone along having only played half of the Black Parade and never having heard any other track by them. She tells me she enjoyed the concert, although was a little disappointed that they weren’t as loud as Chas and Dave were when they played the Broadway Theatre, Catford. I feel it is my duty to now write and complain to MCR for their lack of noise. *LOL*

MCR have had a run of bad luck since before the Black Parade came out and it continued when Bob (the drummer) announced that he was dropping out of the tour on the Sunday night before the O2 concert due to a bad wrist, although apparently he was going to be staying on to help with the pyrotechnics. And then on Tuesday Frank (the guitarist) had to pull out due to a family illness. This meant that Mikey (bassist) finally returned to the fold after his post nuptial break so that Matt could take over Frank’s role. The band are now off in Australia, but I’m hoping they’ll find some time to get back in the studio to record a new album soon, although of course I’d be happy to see them touring back over here again too.


Annoyingly I was offered a free ticket to the Foo Fighters concert at O2 on the Sunday night, but alas I wasn't able to make it. Friends who went said it was ace - definitely a band I still need to catch live sometime. While I'm talking of live bands I found out that I am Kloot are playing tonight and tomorrow in London, unfortunately too late for me to get a ticket. However, they're back on 18th December so I'm considering going to see them. What do you think Mrs H3? Also was very excited to see that Gary Numan is touring with the classic 'Replicas' album in March - definitely got that one in my diary!



Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Music Time

Blimey, not more Blogging? Yep, it’s true! I’ve almost finished my New Orleans holiday now, only a couple more days to go and it’ll all be over. Hopefully should finally be done and dusted by the weekend. So I thought it was time to do a bit of normal blogging again.

When I’m not watching films I’m listening to loads of new music at the moment as the TV really has deteriorated. And of course, me being me, I just had to share with you. Now obviously I have a real thing for quirky, interesting, innovative and possibly downright eccentric music and so all the following have caught my attention for one or more of these reasons. Now as I only listen to about 15 minutes of music on the radio every day (when the alarm goes off) I don’t actually get to hear much new stuff except through a fluke as Radio 1 isn’t awfully experimental at 5am. So if you already know all about these fantastic artists and tracks I apologise, although not much because I’m happy to showcase their work on my blog regardless of how long they’ve been out. But if not, I really urge you to check them out.

First up is the truly awesome debut album ‘Wicked Man’s Rest’ by Passenger. This album has been on the random playlist at the pub for the last couple of weeks (I believe it was released at the end of September) and every time a track comes on I’ve rushed over to find out what it was. Eventually I just had to own the album. I know that 3 singles have been released from it, but have no idea if any of them made the charts. What I do know is that it is a perfectly crafted slice of skewed pop heaven (listen to the last single ‘Walk You Home’ and you’ll see what I mean). Mike Rosenberg has an interesting and unusual voice and the songs are somewhat darker and stranger than most of the fare emerging these days and is a real breath of fresh air. I LOVE THIS ALBUM!!!!


(Walk You Home by Passenger - Official Video)

While I’m recommending albums I’d just like to mention a few others that are top of my current playlist - Newton Faulkner’s ‘Hand Built By Robots’, Blue October’s ‘Foiled Again’ which is a double album containing their last brilliant studio album ‘Foiled’ and ‘Teach Your Baby Well Live’ a 14 track live album, Mark Ronson’s ‘Version’, Rufus Wainwright’s ‘Release the Stars’, Richard Hawley’s ‘Lady’s Bridge’, Bjorn & John Peter’s ‘Falling Out’, Stephen Fretwell’s ‘Man on the Roof’, Feist’s ‘The Reminder’, H.I.M.’s ‘Venus Doom’, Dave Gahan’s ‘Hourglass’ and Babyshambles’ ‘Shotter’s Nation’.

Now I just love songs from films. I adore the Take That track from Stardust – ‘Rule the World’ and downloaded it as soon as it was available. But my recent Alan Rickman appreciation has unearthed some older mega gems (although not, as I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear, ‘Everything I do (I do it for you)’ by Bryan Adams, although I actually don’t mind the track) that have shot straight into my all time favourite tracks league. Apart from being a funny film ‘The Search for John Gissing’ introduced me to a truly wonderful artist by the name of David Mead. His track from the film ‘World of a King’ is a really catchy little number and after falling completely in love with it led me to checking out his other work. I currently have his last album ‘Tangerine’ on repeat play. Eventually, I will need to have his entire back catalogue and will definitely be looking out for him going on tour.


(World of a King by David Mead - Live version)

From the fantastic 'Snow Cake' (and the more I watch that film the more I love it) there are two tracks, the achingly beautiful love song ‘ Same Deep Water’ by I Am Kloot and the haunting ‘Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl’ by Broken Social Scene (of which Leslie Feist is a member).


(Same Deep Water by I Am Kloot - Live version)


(Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl by Broken Social Scene - Official Video)

And finally it's only 9 days till Mrs H3 and I go to see My Chemical Romance at O2. I'm really looking forward to it.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Oh yeah

Found another trailer for Sweeney Todd



I WANT TO SEE THIS FILM NOW!!!!!!

Blimey I've been blogging like crazy!

Well amazingly I have finally completed my Italian holiday blog and am just about ready to get going on the New Orleans one again - no really, I am (only a year late!)






Bit late with the photos of the after pub party too, but better late than never. What I need to track down is the photos from the actual pub party when people were still in costume. As you can just about see I finally decided to go as a murder victim with two gunshot wounds to the head - and very effective they were too, in fact I had lots of compliments about how good my makeup was (although Davey did tell me I looked like My Chemical Romance at one point - but he was very drunk!). The wig I'm wearing in the photo was part of Tina's witch costume, with which she won first prize in the fancy dress competition. We had a great evening and had a real laugh - gotta love Halloween!

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Happy Halloween!

So it’s already been already been another week since I last posted, How quick is the time going? Loads to talk about so it could be a long old post.

I meant to post yesterday and wish my sister Jo a really Happy Birthday, but I just didn't get round to it. Anyway, hopefully she had a good day even without my virtual best wishes.

I have changed the trailer of ‘The Golden Compass’ to a You Tube one rather than the one from the official site as the way it mucked up my formatting really annoyed me and the quick time thing was driving me mad. Now you can choose to watch the trailer rather than being forced to have it on. It’s a slightly different one and the film looks even better in my opinion. Take a look and see what you think.

You’ll remember Lynnie Lou and I went to see “Dark is Rising” last week. I am pleased to report that as a film it is very good – the special effects are excellent and it is an interesting and thrilling story with generally good acting. However, as an adaptation of the book it is truly diabolical. Apart from the title, the names of some of the characters and about 4 lines of dialogue almost the whole film bears no actual resemblance to the book in any way. As a long time addict of the book I spent quite a large part of the movie confused as plot after plot was discarded in favour of a different story. Eventually I gave in and decided to ignore the fact it was supposed to be based on the book and just enjoy it as a film and it worked. For anyone who thinks that the Harry Potter films have hacked the story (and that includes me) they are nothing compared to the butchery that has taken place with “Dark is Rising”. I would definitely recommend the film for entertainment value, but would even more recommend reading the books and getting the full and proper story. To be honest I find it hard to believe that they will be adapting any of the other books in the series, all are far too interwoven with Arthurian and other British legends and the studio appears to not want this type of film. I suppose they could just rewrite the scripts so that they bear no resemblance to the original stories, but the first film seems to have been designed as a stand alone, so perhaps they’re just not going to bother with the others. Perhaps one day someone will make them properly.

OK well Halloween’s been and gone now so I’m late posting as usual. Tomorrow I’ll add some pictures from Saturday night after the pub’s Halloween Party when we all descended on Den and Lynne.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Midweek Mumblings

So it's Wednesday and once again Lynne and I are off to the cinema. Tonight we're going to see 'Dark is Rising'. Yes, I know I said I didn't want to see it and that I know I'll be disappointed, but part of me can't help but need to see it. I am intending to try and view it as just another entertaining film rather than horrible mangled adaptation of one of my all-time favourite books. Wish me luck!

I'm trying to decide what to wear for the fancy dress party at the pub on Saturday. So many choices and I can't decide. If anyone wants to suggest something please feel free - the blog doesn't bite you know ;)

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Update

After an emotional evening watching the rugby I have finally updated my Room With A View blog. Be prepared for loads of wedding photos, although eventually blogger got fed up of uploading them and refused to add any more. There should have been one of the guests in the courtyard before the wedding (but I accidentally deleted it when I was formatting). I also wanted to show a couple of pictures of the contrade fountains in the following days post, but hit the same problem. Hopefully tomorrow I should be able to add those and also upload the rest of my selection of wedding photos that need to be seen in my opinion.